A health official on Friday said the government continues to track the number of daily Covid-19 cases despite the absence of a daily case bulletin.

“‘Di nawala ang paggabay ng gobiyerno sa mga tao nang alisin ang daily case bulletin… nagbigay ito ng shift of mindset para makapag-focus sa mas importante na kailangan ng pansin, ang mga naglulubha at namamatay (When the daily case bulletin was removed, the government did not withdraw its guidance from the public… we gave a shift of mindset to focus on what’s important, the severe [cases] and deaths),” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during an online media forum.

Vergeire clarified the daily number of cases is still being recorded in the Department of Health’s (DOH) Covid-19 tracker.

“If ever, any firm or any academic institution doing, or anybody at all can still access the tracker and get the numbers there,” she said.

Earlier, a health reform advocate said the DOH must be held accountable if there will be Covid-19 case surges because it removed the daily reporting of cases.

Vergeire assured the public the government will immediately provide information in case an upsurge of infections happens.

She added the Alert Level System and Covid-19 response will be activated should there be an uptick in cases.

“Whatever the numbers are, ang ating ginagawa ay pareho pa rin, kailangan natin mag-ingat, magpabakuna, sumunod sa (we’re doing the same, we need to stay safe, be vaccinated, observed the) minimum public health standards

In the same forum, infectious diseases expert and DOH-Technical Advisory Group member Edsel Salvana explained the weekly case report focuses on the healthcare system utilization and vaccination coverage which are important.

“Keeping track of the positivity rate, which to me, I guess, is the best indication that our testing is okay, kahit kumonti (even if it’s less) as long as the positivity rate remains below 5 percent then we’re still keeping good track of the virus in our community,” Salvana said.

Change of mindset

Vergeire emphasized the change of case bulletin from weekly to daily and the changes in its elements aim to provide a change of mindset among Filipinos since “Covid-19 or the virus will never go away”.

She said the people must learn how to live with the virus.

“Kailangan alam natin there will be mild and asymptomatic cases pero ang importante satin wala magkaron ng severe cases, walang ma-ospital, walang mamatay (We must know there will be mild and asymptomatic cases but what’s important is there’ll be no severe cases, no will be hospitalized or will die) that’s why we’re vaccinating),” she added.

Meanwhile, Salvana cited Sweden which does not track its Covid-19 cases at all. It only tests individuals with severe diseases.

He said it is more important to think of the mindset than the case numbers — focusing on the severe and critical cases which impact the healthcare system.

“Because of vaccine, we are starting to go towards a virus that is no longer the same in terms of deadliness and impact to society as it was two years ago,” he said.

This, he added, comes with appropriate policy shifts and attitude changes.

Lockdowns are no longer implemented because of their heavy impact on the economy.

Vaccination allowed the country’s economy to open without overwhelming the healthcare system.

“So, this is a natural evolution, the same way the virus evolves ang ating response nag-eevolve dahil marami na tayong tools kasama dyan ang bakuna, mga gamot at patuloy na paggamit ng mask (our response also evolves because we now have a lot of tools including vaccine, medicines and continued use of masks), so we can live with this virus,” Salvana said. (PNA)